Apparatus for making plate glass



Feb. 17, 1931. J F ET AL 1,792,636

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLATE GLASS F'iled Oct. 24, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR5 Feb, 17, 1931.

J. H. FOX ET AL ,6

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLATE GLASS 7 Filed Oct. 24. 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLATE GLASS N. W 9m -1-|L, V\/\ p Q Hm QR Q a x ==u===m========== ======B========== Feb. 17, 1931.

O EQ/ Feb. 17, 1931.

J. H. FOX ET AL APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLATE GLASS F' iled OCT, 24. 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS Vg mN-V my WQQ v WSW Feb. 17, 1931. J. H. FOX ET AL APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLATE GLASS Filed Octv 24, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fell 1931 J. H. FOX ETAL 4 APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLATE GLASS Filed Oct. 24, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN H. FOX AND WILLIAM OWEN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOBS TO PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLATE GLASS A Application filed October 24, 1929. Serial No. 402,085.

The invention relates to apparatus for making plate glass. It has for its main object the provision of improved apparatus permitting the intermittent formation by a rolling operation of sheets of glass at relatively high speed, and the annealing of such sheets at relativel low speed. A further object is the combining of the roller and bar types of leers in such manneras to secure the advantages incident to both.

Briefly stated, the apparatus comprises an entrance leer section of the roller type mounted for bodily movement back and forth beneath the sheet rollin or forming apparatus, a bar leer section ollowing the roller section and constituting the main portion of the leer, and transfer -means between the two sectionsfor shifting the glass sheets successively from the rolls of the roller section to the bars of-the bar section. The rolls of the roller'section are driven at a relatively slow peripheral speed, for instance at the rate of from se on to ten feet per minute, and the bodily forward movement of this section is utilized to permit the high sheet rolling s d required, such bodily movement ranging om twenty to thirty feet per minute. A roller speed of eightfeet per minute with a forward bodily movement of the leer at the rateof twenty-fourfeet er minute will'thus permit a speed of sheet ormation of thirty-two feet per minute. The forward bodily movement of the roller leer section is also utilized to secure the transfer of the glass sheets to the bar section of the leer. In the bar section of theleer, the movement of the sheets is in a series of steps, with periods of rest between movement, corresponding in timing and in length to ;the periods intervening between the successive sheet rolling operations. The actual speed of movement of the sheets in the bar section may .be relatively fast, but the periods of rest are of such length as to keep the sheet in the bar section the necessary period for annealing or cooling without makmg such section of excessive len h. The parts of the leer sections are so timed that thesheets are brought as close together as may be desired except at the part where the transfer of the sheets from the roller section to the bar section occurs, a separation necessarily occurring between sheets at this point which is somewhat in excess of the length of a sheet. One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,- wherein:

Figures 1, 1a and 16 comprise a plan view. Figs. 2, 2a and 2b compose a section on the line II-II of Figs. 1, 1a and 16. And Figs. 3 to 11 are sections on the lines III-III to XIXI respectively of Figs. 2, 2a and 2b. The section of Fig. 9 is not taken with the parts in the osition shown in Fig. 26 but is taken with t e roller leer section C in ad-. vanced position so that such section lies inside the bar section F of the leer. Fig. 9 under these conditions shows the relation of the endless conveyors 33 to the transfer bars 46.

. Referring to the drawings, A is the sheet rolling or forming device driven from the motor B; C is the roller section of the leer movable back and forth beneath the rolling apparatus; D is an electric motor for giving the roll section 0 its backward movement; E is a shaft extending along the leer section 0 from which therolls of such section are driven; F is the bar section of the leer in telescopic relation with the roll section C; G is an electric motor for moving the bars of the bar section F back and forth; H is another electric motor for 'ving the bars of the section F their up an down movement; I is a transfer table which receives the glass from the bar section F and transfers it laterally to the roller cutting table J; and K is an electric motor for driving the rolls which move the glass sheets from the table I to the table J.

The rolling apparatus A comprises a ring roll 1 and a sizing roll 2, the roll 1 being supported and driven by a pair of rollers 3, 4. The rollers 3, 4 are driven from the motor B through the intermediary of a chain 5, which passes around sprockets on the motor drive shaft and on a countershaft 6 and worm reducing gearing in the casings 7, 7 connected to the rollers 3 and 4 by means of the tumbler shafts 8 8. The roll 2 is driven from the counters aft E (a continuation of the motor drive shaft) through the intermediary of the chain 9 passing around the sprockets on the shaft E and on a transverse shaft which operates to drive reducing gearing in the easing 10, such gearing in turn driving the tumbler shaft 11 connected to the end of the roll 2. The body of glass 12 is poured from the pot l3 brought by a crane, not shown, from a melting furnace and this body of glass is rolled out into the sheet 14 which passes down over an apron made up of the rolls 15. The sizing roll 2 is hollow and suitably water cooled by means of swivels and circulation pipes 16. The 1eft-hand end roll (Fig. 2) is provided with a drive shaft 16a (Fig. 1) and this shaft is driven from the roll 4 by means of a chain 17 passing around sprockets on such roll and on the shaft 16a. The other rolls of the set 15 are driven from the end roll by means of a chain 18 which passes around sprockets on the ends of the rolls.

The roll section G of the leer is mounted upon a framework 19 provided with wheels 20 running upon the track 21 and arranged so as to move back and forth along the track, the forward movement occurring during the casting of a sheet and the backward movement occurring preliminary to the casting of another sheet. This back and forth movement is accomplished by means of a rack 22 extending the length of the framework 19 and a gear 23 engaging such rack and mounted on the drive shaft 24. The shaft 24 is driven from the countershaft E through the intermediary of the spur gear 25 on such shaft (Fig. 3), the gear 26 and worm reduction gearing in the casing 27 driven from the gear 26. The gear 25 is normally loose upon the shaft E, but is secured to such shaft by means of a magnetic clutch 28 when it is desired to rotate the countershaft 24 and so move the leer section C ahead. The backward movement of the leer C to starting position is accomplished by means of another motor D, whose shaft is provided with'a bevel gear 29 meshing with another gear 30 on the same shaft as the gear 26. When the motor D is operated to move the leer section to the left to starting position, the clutch 28 is, of course, released.

The leer section 0 is made up of the sets of rolls 31, 31, 31 forming the runway of the leer, the sets of rolls 32, 32, 32 forming the main body of this leer section, and the endless conveyors 33 which constitute the transfer means from the roller section C of the leer to the bar section F. All of the sets of rolls of the section C, as well as the endless conveyors 33, are driven from the main drive shaft E which is in splined relation withtlie gear 34 (Fig. 1) which drivesthe countershaft 35 and the countershaft 36 through the intermediary of the gears 37, 38, 39 and 40, the countershaft 35 serving as the driving means for the sets of rolls 32 and for the conmeaese veyors 33, while the countershaft 36 serves as the driving means for the sets of rolls 31. The sets of rolls 32 and the conveyors 33 are each driven from a transverse shaft 41, such shafts being provided with sprockets around which pass the chains 42, such chains also passing around sprockets on the ends of the rolls. The shafts 41 are driven from the shaft 35 through the intermediary of the gears 43, 44 and worm reduction gearing in the easings 45. The sets of rolls 31 are each driven from the shaft 36 by means of reduction gearing, chains, and sprockets which are the same as just described in connection with the drive of the sets of rolls 32.

The roll section C telescopes inside the bar section F, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and the endless conveyor-s33 are spaced so that they pass between the bars 46 makin up the transfer mechanism of this part 0 the leer. The to s of the forward ends of these bars are pre erabl covered with a la er of asbestos 46a to re uce the chilling e ect of the. bars upon the lass. The conveyors 33 comprise chains ma e up of the links 47 (Fig. 9), preferably covered on their upper sides with a layer of asbestos 48 in order to avoid chilling the lass and such conveyors pass around sproc ets on the drive shaft 41 and the shafts 49 and 50 (Fig. 2a). The upper flight of each of these conveyors is supported upon a bar 51 (Fi 9) secured to a frame member 52, and eac of these frame members is provided with a wheel 52a (Fig. 5) engaging a track 525, thus giving an independent support for each frame member. This upper flight is long enough to receive a complete sheet of glass. The arts'are so timed that when the complete s act is carried by these conveyors, the roll section of the leer moves forward carrying the sheet of lass into the end of the bar section F where t e glass sheet is deposited upon the bars 46.

The bar section F is the longest part of the leer, ordinarily four or five hundred feet long, and the bars 46 extend entirely through the leer section F and along the transfer table I. The bars are so operated that at stated intervals, they move vertically to engage the sheets of glass in thissection of the leer, move forward substantially the length of the sheet which may ran e from 30 to 60 feet, moving down to deposit the sheet and then move back to starting position. The riods of rest in this cycle correspond to t e riods which elapse between successive rolhng operations, ordinarily in the neighborhood of five or six minutes. The bars are referably T-shaped in cross section, as ind Figs. 9, 10 and 11, and are mounted in wheels 53, 53, etc. mounted on lever arms 54, 54, etc.

carried by the pins 55, 55, etc., such pins being rocked from the lever arms 56, 56, etc.

' (Figs. 2a and '8) The levers 56 are connected at their lower ends to the series of rods 57 icated in 7 ing in, the casing 60 (Fig. 8). The section of bars which extends along the table I (Fi s. 1?) and 2b) is similarly o erated from t e crank disc 58 by means of t e connecting rod 61 and crank 61a, the method of supporting the bars being the same in this portion of the apparatus as in the portion of the leer to the left of such apparatus. The bars 46 are given their back and forth movement by means of racks 62 (Figs. 2b and 11) provided on the portions of the bars which pass over the gear wheels 63, such gear wheels being mounted on levers 54 and corresponding to the wheels 53 except thatthey are provided with gear teeth for engaging the racks 62. The levers 56c (Figs. 2b and 11) are operated by connecting rods 56d (Fig. 212) connected to the bell crank levers 54a on the transverse shaft 545 which are in turn oscillated from the rod 61 and crank 56?) (Fig. 1b). The ears 63 are driven from a. transverse sha t 64 (Figs. 1b and 11) such shaft being rovided with a series of pinions 65 (Fig. 2b which engage the teeth of the cars 63. The shaft 64 is itself driven from t e motor G through the intermediary of worm gearing in the casing 66. The motion of-this motor is so timed that it moves the bars46 forward aftersuch bars have b en raised by themotor H to en- Igage the glass sheets and then moves such ars to the rear after the bars have reached their extreme forward positions and have been lowered by the motor H so that the glass sheets rest upon the bottom of the leer. Fig. 10 shows the bars 46 in lowered position in full lines at which time the glass sheet 67 rests u on the leer stones 68 which are intersperse between the wheels 53. The dotted lines in this figure show the bars in raised position, which is the position occupied when the bars are movin forward. i The last forwar movement of the sets of bars deposits the glass sheet u on the transfer table I. This transfer 178%16 (Figs. 1b and 2b) is provided with a'plurality of longitudinally extending shafts 69 rovided with rollers 7 0. The tops of these rollers lie above the tops of the leer bars when the leer bars are in lowered position. When the leer bars are in their upper positions, their tops lie above the tops of the rollers 70. The glass sheet is, therefore, brought forward on the leer bars above the tops of the rollers 53 and deposited upon such rollers when the leer bars are lowered. The sheet is now in position to betransferred laterall on the cutting table J and this is accomplis ed by rotating the shafts 69 carrying the rollers 70. The shafts 69 are provided at their ends with sprockets around which pass a sprocket chain 71, such chain also passin around a sprocket on the shaft 72. The sha t 72 is driven from the motor K through reduction gearing in the casing 73.

Inoperation the parts occupy the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, at which time a pot of glass is poured between the rolls 1 and 2. At this time the leer section C is moved to the right by means of the gear 23 engaging the rack which extends along the bottom of the leer section, as heretofore described. The leer thus moves forward at a rate of speed such that this speed plus the peripheral speed of the rolls 31, 32 making up the bed of the leer, equals the peripheral speed of the rollers l and 2. A glass sheet is thus deposited upon the runway of the leer, the body of glass 12 becoming exhausted before such runway completely passes beneath the rolling ap paratus. The leer section G is now moved back to starting position and this cycle is repeated until the first glass sheet rests upon the endless conveyors 33 at the time the section C again starts forward. On this forward movement of the section C, the glass sheet on the endless conveyors 33 is brought into the bar section F of the leer above the bars 46, as indicated in Fig. .9. When the leer C arrives at its extreme forward-limit of movement, the motor H operates to lift the bars 46, thus raising the glass sheet from the endless conveyors 33. At the same time the motor G 0 rates to feed the leer bars 46 forward, so t at the glass sheet in the section F is carried forward a distance slightly greater than its length at which time the operation of the motor H lowers the sheet so that it rests upon the floor of the leer, as indicated in Fig. 10 and the motor G is reversed to carry the leer bars back to starting position. uring this period of o ration in the bar section of the leer, the rol section 0 has moved back to starting position preparatory to the next rolling operation. This operation is repeated as each rolling operation occurs, the-end sheet in the roll section of the leer being transferred on the forward movement of the leer to the bar section and each sheet in the bar .section being simultaneously moved on one step throu h such bar section. After each step forwar the end sheet of glass in the bar section which is carried onto the transfer table is moved onto the cutting during the rolling of a sheet and movin it backward after the rolling operation, a ar leer' section in alignment with the roller section comprising spaced bars, means for giving the bars an intermittent movement back and forth and for raising and lowering them, and means between the ends of the two leer sections for transferring a glass sheet from the roller section to the bars of the bar section when the roller section moves forward.

2. In apparatus for making a sheet of glass, a roller leer section mounted for bodily movement in a lon tudinal direction, means for driving the roIl s of the leer, a air of sizing or forming rolls mounted in xed position above the roller bed of said section, means for moving said leer section forward during the rolling of a sheet and moving it backward after the rolling operation, a bar leer section in alignment with the roller section comprising spaced bars, means for giving the bars an intermittent movement back and forth and for raising and lowering them, and means between the ends of the two leer sections for transferrin a glass sheet from the roller section to the ars of the bar section when the roller section moves forward, said means comprising a series of spaced conveyors movable with the roller leer section and arranged to fit between the end of the spaced bars of said bar section.

3. In apparatus for making a sheet of glass, a roller leer section mounted for bed- 11y movement in a longitudinal direction, means for driving the rolls of the leer, a air of sizing or forming rolls mounted in xed position above the roller bed of said section, means for moving said leer section forward during the rolling of a sheet and movin' it backward after the rolling operation, a ar leer section in alignment with the roller section comprising spaced bars, means for givin the bars an intermittent movement back and forth and for raising and lowering them, means between the ends of the two leer sections for transferring a glass sheet from the roller section to the bar section when the roller section moves forward, a transfer table at the outlet end of the bar section having bars which form a continuation of the leer bars, and a roller bed having the axes of the rolls thereof extending longitudinally of the table with the tops of said rolls lying above the tops of the bars when such bars are in their lower positions.

4. In apparatus for making a sheet of glass,

a roller leer section mounted for bodily movement in a longitudinal direction, means for driving the rolls of the leer, a pair of sizing or forming rolls mounted in fixed position above the roller bed of said section, means for moving said leer section forward during the. rolling of a sheet and moving it backward after the rolling operation, a bar leer section in alignment with the roller section in telescopic relation therewith, and provided with spaced bars, means for giving the bars an intermittent back and forth movement, and for raising and lowering them, fixed means interspersed between the bars for receiving the glass sheets from the bars when such bars are lowered and moved to their rearward positions, and means between the ends of the two leer sections for transferring a glass sheet from the roller section to the bars of the bar section when the roller section moves forward.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

' JOHN H. FOX.

OWEN. 

